Index-card holder.



No. 869,620. PATENTED OUT. 29. 1907.

P. BURNS.

INDEX CARD HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19. 1907.

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FRANK BURNS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

INDEX-CARD HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 1907.

Application filed June 19. 1907- Serial No. 379,782.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK BURNs, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Index-Card Holders, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive supporting device for index cards particularly designed for attachment to telephone structures or to some other body adjacent to a telephone, it being particularly desired that the device shall be of a construction capable of maintaining one or any number of cards in a horizontal or other position suitable for reference after such card or cards has once been brought to this position from the normal vertical position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a supporting device for index cards of such a nature as will permit the addition or removal of any of the cards from their supporting bar to be accomplished with the expenditure of a minimum of time and labor.

These and other advantageous ends I secure as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1, is a front elevation of a telephone structure showing my invention as applied thereto; Fig. 2, is a plan of the structure shown in Fig. 1, further illustrating my invention, and Fig. 3, is an enlarged front elevation showing the detail construction of the cards and the supporting structure therefor.

In the above drawings A represents a telephone or other structure to which my invention may be applied, and this latter in the present instance consists of a bar B of fiat material bent for convenience into an L-shape and held to the supporting structure by screws 1) so that one of its narrow edges or sides is uppermost. This bar is provided at its free end with a head portion b, and has suspended from it a series of index cards 0. Each of these cards is preferably of elongated form and rounded at the ends, though it will be understood that they may be of any desired form.

Near one end of each card and preferably concentric with the curved end thereof, is placed a key-holeshaped' opening 0 whose narrow portion 0 extends in a line substantially at right angles to the length of the card. This portion is preferably of a width substantially equal to the thickness of the metal or other material of which the bar B is made, while the main body of the hole of the card is of a diameter less than the extreme length of the head thereon.

Each of the cards is printed or otherwise marked with the name of a subscriber and also with the number of his phone, and under normal conditions all of the cards hang vertically downward from the bar B as indicated in Fig. 3. Said cards are arranged so that the subscribers names are in alphabetical order, and it will be obvious that the name of any particular subscriber may be found by successively swinging the cards on the bar to one side of the vertical until the desired card is reached. This card is then swung up on the bar until it reaches a substantially horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 3, when it will be seen that its end in which the opening 0 is formed will move down or fall under the action of gravity sufficiently to let the bar B enter the narrow portion 0 of its keyhole-shaped opening. Under these conditions this particular card will be maintained in the position illustrated, owing to the shape of the bar and the narrow part of the opening 0, so that any printed or written matter thereon may be read.

When it is desired to return the card to its normal position, it is raised sufliciently to move its narrow portion above the bar B so that this latter is entirely within the body portion 0 of the opening. The card may then be turned on the bar and permitted to assume its normal position.

When it is desired to remove any of the cards from the bar, they are first moved to their horizontal posi tions and then caused to slide along the bar until finally, when they reach the end of the same, they are lifted suiliciently to cause the uppermost portion of the narrow part c of the opening in the card to clear the head b of the bar.

I claim 1. The combination of a bar serving as a supporting structure. and a series of index cards mounted on said bar. so as to be free to turn. each of said cards having an opening for the passage of the bar, and said openings bein so shaped that certain of their parts are capable of engaging the bar to hold the cards in an extended position against the action of gravity, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a bar forming a supporting structure, and a series of cards mounted thereon and each having a key-hole shaped opening for the reception of the bar. said openings being so placed that their narrow portions are capable of engaging the bar to maintain the cards in an extended position against the action of gravity. substantially as described.

3. The combination of a relatively narrow bar mounted so that one of its edges is uppermost. with a series of cards mounted on the bar and each provided with a keyhole shaped opening for the reception thereof, the narrow portion of said slots extending in a line substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the cards, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a relatively narrow bar having at one end a head. a series of cards mounted on said bar and each having a key-hole shaped slot for the reception thereof. the narrow portions of said slots extending substantially at right angles to the length of the cards and the diameter of the body portion of each hole being less than the length of the head, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in 'the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK BURNS.

Witnesses WlLLmn E. BRADLEY, WM. A. BARR. 

